A Search For Something Unreachable
by Shattered.Daybreak
Summary: A voice was whispering to her. It wasn’t Rumi and no one else was around. Usually, she would have screamed in a situation like this, but there was something strangely familiar about this voice that made her listen.
1. Chapter 1

Memories…

Memories…

"Mom! Dad! Come on!" Chihiro screamed, attempting to get her parents attention and failing.

"_Don't worry, honey." Her father said through mouthfuls of food._

"_Oh Chihiro! You have to try this!" Her mother tried to persuade her to join them in their feasting._

"_No way you guys! Were going to get in trouble, now come on!" Chihiro pleaded. She had an uneasy feeling about this place ever since her and her family absent-mindedly wandered into the fading, red tunnel. Ever since they climbed the stone stairs and smelled the strange scent, the hair on her arms was standing on end. She couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't supposed to be wherever they were._

_She finally gave up and left the restaurant and her parents behind. She decided, as long she was stuck here, she might as well look around. She made a mental note of her surroundings before walking down the quiet street._

_In the distance, a red lantern at the end of the street caught her eye. It was situated at the top of a flight of stairs._

_She climbed the stairs, looking around as she ascended and found herself on a large, crimson-red bridge. Directly in front of the bridge was a massive building the same color as the bridge with a roaring smokestack on its side. It looked like a bathhouse._

"_Weird…" she thought to herself._

_Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a loud roaring under the bridge. Curious, she ran to the side of the bridge and leaned over the railing._

"_Okay, that's really weird," she muttered. There was no water under the bridge, just a deep, dark, cavern with a railroad track running through it._

_As she watched the train go by, she was unaware of the sinking sun. Suddenly, a wisp of wind rustled her dark, brown hair, causing her to turn to its source. She gasped. _

_The silhouette of a boy was standing directly beside her. _

"_Chihiro," he softly whispered._

"_Chihiro…"_

"Chihiro! Knock, knock!" A voice interrupted her followed by a tapping on her head.

"Hey! Anybody home?" Her best friend Rumi was trying to get her attention and was the cause of the tapping.

"Huh? What?" Chihiro blinked and focused on Rumi's annoyed face just inches from hers.

"Hey little dreamer, where you been?" Rumi teased her.

"What do you mean?" Chihiro blushed slightly. She was trying to play it dumb, but truthfully, she knew exactly where she had been and what exactly she was daydreaming of.

This wasn't the first time Chihiro Ogino had fallen prey to her constant, consuming daydreams. Though it had been eight years since she had been to the Spirit World, a day never goes by when she doesn't remember her adventure there. The way her parents ate themselves into pigs and how Chihiro had to work at Yubabas' bathhouse to set them free, Kamaji, the old boiler man who helped her when all hope was almost gone, Len, Chihiro's boss and dear friend, No Face, the mysterious man who goes crazy while in the bathhouse but becomes her friend in the end, Yubaba's giant baby, the three Kashira, green, bouncing heads that do Yubaba's will, Yu-Bird, Yubaba's pet, and Zeniba, Yubaba's twin sister and 'granny' of Chihiro. But every time she relived her time there, she felt like something was missing. Something or someone had vanished from her memory and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall what it was. Countless, sleepless nights has she wasted racking her memory for an answer and every time, she comes up blank.

"Ha, whatever Chihiro. Lets go home," Rumi suggested.

"Okay." Chihiro agreed, still blushing slightly. She had never had the guts to tell Rumi about her time in the Spirit World. She was afraid Rumi might think she was crazy or something.

The girls lived together in a small two-room apartment near a beautiful, rushing river. It was small, but they both loved it.

The river held a special place in Chihiro's heart. Not only was it beautiful, there was something more, something deeper that ran to the very marrow in her bones. She could never quite pin point what the connection was, but she could never bring herself to stay away from the river for long. The longer she was away from it, the more she seemed to be missing inside her heart. One day, she hoped to find the connection.

The walk to their apartment was short and warm during the summer heat. Rumi jabbered on about boys, clothes, and the coming school year. Her conversation demanded little of Chihiro's attention, so she settled herself into reliving her time at the Spirit World yet again.

She glanced down the dangerously steep staircase that ran down the backside of the bathhouse into the boiler room. She held in a shiver and gulped.

_Someone had shown her the way to the boiler room and gave her instructions to ask Kamaji, the boiler man, for work. She remembered the touch of a warm hand on her forehead and the visions of the boiler room rushing through her mind, nothing else._

_Slowly, she began climbing down the stairs, holding on for dear life and wishing there was a railing to save her from the deep cavern below._

_The first few steps went well until suddenly, 'SNAP!' a stair gave way underneath her._

"_Ah!" she screamed, running down the stairs, unable to stop._

_Finally, after smacking into the side of a wall, she found Kamaji._

They were in their apartment now, debating on what they were to have for dinner.

"What do you think?" Rumi asked her. She was resting her head on her hand and reading the back of a box of rice.

"I think you should stop reading and get working," Chihiro teased her. She rustled Rumi's hair and snatched the box from her. After all, it was Rumi's night to cook.

Finally, after burning the chicken, Rumi sat down to eat with Chihiro.

"Bon appetit," she motioned to the burned chicken and soggy rice. Chihiro had to contain a laugh.

They laughed there way through dinner and desert and were soon in the kitchen cleaning up Rumi's mess.

Rumi blew out a sigh as she sat in a rocking chair on their deck.

"Wow, tough night," she commented.

"Yeah right," Chihiro laughed at her and climbed onto the railing of the deck, resting her back on a large plant.

"I wish you wouldn't do that, you know it scares me," Rumi glared at her through the dark.

Chihiro chuckled and stuck out her tongue. Rumi rolled her eyes and grumbled something unintelligible.

For as conservative as Chihiro was, she always liked sitting on the railing over the river. Deep down, she believed that if she fell, the river would save her. She had a vague memory of her little pink shoe falling in a river when she was young. She tried to retrieve it but fell in. She though she was going to drown but somehow, the river carried her back to shore.

She smiled at the memory.

Rumi yawned loudly and stretched. "Okay, I'm going to bed, see you tomorrow."

"'Kay, 'night," Chihiro smiled.

After Rumi was gone, Chihiro wrapped her arms around her knees and closed her eyes. It was a quiet night with nothing other than the sound of the river flowing so what she heard took her off guard.

A voice was whispering to her. It wasn't Rumi and no one else was around. Usually, she would have screamed in a situation like this, but there was something strangely familiar about this voice that made her listen. It was a male voice, that was for sure. He was telling her something; calling to her.

It started out as just a whisper that she couldn't understand, but soon she began to understand it.

"_Open you mouth…" _

"Don't be afraid…"

"_Meet me on the bridge…"_

The voice was getting louder now, almost yelling.

"_You'll be alright…"_

A vision rushed through her head of a beautiful silver, white dragon with an emerald main. It was glaring past her and covered in crimson red.

She gasped at the intensity of the vision. It was like she was experiencing a nightmare of someone she loved dying_._

"_Run!" she screamed. _

_The dragon tensed and lunged for the door behind her, splattering both her and the room with blood._

"_Waite!" she pleaded._

_The dragon looked back at her and its silver scales melted away into the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. His face was partially covered in his blowing, dark green hair, but even through his beautiful hair, she could see his face was torn in pain and his green eyes were streaming with tears._

_He gazed at her for a moment with his tortured expression and whispered her name through clenched teeth._

"_Chihiro," his voice was tortured. She wanted to run to him and wrap him in her arms, to tell him it was all right._

"_Chihiro I'm sorry!" he screamed, closing his eyes and disappearing._

"Haku!" she screamed after him.

She woke up screaming his name.

She was lying on the floor of the balcony, shaking and covered in sweat. Her hands were covering her face and she realized she was crying.

"Haku," she whispered through her sobs. Darkness was closing in on her and she slipped into dreams filled with the boy Haku.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I do not own Spirited Away. I took quotes form Miyazaki's Spirited Away Picture Book. Please review and tell me what you think, I'm having alot of fun on this one. If you haven't noticed, _italics_ are memories. Side note: new chapter will not be up until I get back Fridayish, sorry.**

Chihiro woke up curled in a ball with her head resting on her arm

Chihiro woke up curled in a ball with her head resting on her arm. Her body was both sore and completely exhausted from last night's lack of sleep.

"Ugh," she groaned, sitting up and rubbing her neck.

The sun was just coming up, telling her that it was way to early to be awake, especially in the middle of summer.

"What was that all about?" she murmured to herself, still groggy. She tried to remember what happened last night.

She remembered Rumi scolding her for sitting on the railing of the balcony and wishing her a good nights sleep. Other than that, her mind was a whirl of colors and images, beautiful greens, blinding silvers, bloody reds, and tears, endlessly tears.

"Hm, I wonder what brought that on," she mumbled getting up of the ground and stretching.

"Wow!" she gasped mid stretch. She had just caught sight of the rising sun and it left her awestruck.

The suns rays danced across the cloudless sky in rainbows of bright pinks, violent reds, and startling oranges. Strange shapes were being formed from objects the sun hit.

Chihiro followed the dancing rays that filtered through the trees with a smile on her face.

It was a perfect morning, the sun was shining, the river was flowing, and it was beautiful, her strange dreams already in the past.

A strange golden beam pierced the sky right in front of her. Instinctively, she reached for it, allowing her eyes to follow its course into the river below her.

As she watched the beam of light dance across the water, she found herself entranced by it's movement, almost hypnotized by it.

She found herself leaning over the railing as the light moved across the water.

Suddenly, the light changed into a face clad in gold on the water. A face she recognized, longed for, needed.

She squinted, trying to get a clearer picture. Suddenly, the face turned crystal clear and stared at her with a pained expression. The face was beautiful, yet sad.

With a gasp, she realized who it was.

Haku! The realization hit her like a kick in the face causing her knees to cave in. She grasped the railing for support, panting as the memory of last nights dream flooded her mind.

The dragon, he was hurt, he had to leave her but he didn't want to, his beautiful face that looked at her with such a tortured expression and how it felt the moment he disappeared.

She tried to breath evenly, to relax her iron grip on the railing. It was like her body wouldn't respond, like nothing mattered except Haku. She felt like nothing could move her except him, his warm touch and his soft, sweet voice.

She gasped again as the intensity of the memories of him nearly knocked her to the floor.

_Chihiro is in Yubaba's office on the top floor. She's trying to save him. Though he's in his dragon form, she knows it's him, knows it's Haku. Zeniba is there too but she's see-thru._

The memories felt like she was right there, watching this all happen.

_WOOSH! Haku had just cut Zeniba's paper doll in half._

_"Haku, we're falling!" Chihiro screamed, grabbing on to him as they fell into the dark hole beside them._

_"Haku!" she screamed again as they pummeled into the darkness. He was unconscious and she was powerless to help him._

_He must have heard her. Right before falling into the dark shadows below, Haku turned and with his last ounce of strength, burst through the only exit visible; an exhaust fan._

_He was bleeding worse than ever now._

She gasped, trying to stop the horrible memories.

Suddenly, the scene shifted.

_They were running through the town, their hands intertwined. He was taking her home._

_They stopped at the stone steps that turned to water when night came to allow passage to the spirits. They could see her parents in the distance, yet that made her more reluctant to let him go._

_"I can't go any farther," Haku whispered._

_"What?" she gaped at him, eyes wide. What does he mean 'can't go any farther'? Isn't he coming with me? She thought to herself._

_He ignored her horrified expression and continued._

_"Just go back the way you came, you'll be fine. But you have to promise not to look back-not until you've passed through the tunnel." His eyes were burning into hers._

_"What about you? What will you do?" She was trying to hold herself together but she couldn't bear letting him go._

_"Don't worry. I'll go back and have a talk with Yubaba. I'll tell her I'm going to quit being her apprentice. I'm fine. I got my name back." he assured her._

_"Will we meet again sometime?" she asked him desperately._

_"I'm sure we will." He smiled at her._

_"Promise?" she pleaded. His persuasion didn't convince her._

_"Promise. Now go. And don't look back." He squeezed her hand and gently nudged her toward the stairs._

_Her vision was distorting due to the tears beginning to stream down her cheeks._

_"No, please Haku," she sobbed._

_Gently, he reached his other hand to quickly wipe away her tears._

_"Go," he urged her, his eyes blazing with intensity._

_She took the first step down feeling his hand slowly slip away from hers. She gripped tighter but kept moving. Only their fingertips were touching now. She could feel something breaking inside of her the farther she went away from him. Too soon, the air broke between there hands and she felt her heart break._

_She didn't even try to contain her sobs anymore as she ran blindly down the steps. She ran through the field alone and kept her promise; she didn't look back._

"Ah," she panted, letting herself collapse onto the floor.

Now she realized why she never could make herself date, she was still attached so much to Haku and why she loved the river so much. He was the spirit of the Kohaku River; he saved her when she dropped her little pink shoe into the water when she was little. He had done so much for her. How can she repay him?

Should she repay him? After all, he was the one that told her to leave, urged her to go back to her old life. He was the one who let her go.

But a small voice inside her heart quietly reminded her that he was also the one who first took her to her parents after they had been turned into pigs. He befriended her and gave her the information for finding Kamaji. He was the one who allowed her to stay in the Spirit World. He saved her and cared for her like she had never been cared for before.

"How can I repay you?" she whispered softly.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I am so sorry that it took so long for this chapter to get up. It's been done for a week but I uploaded it wrong and so it wouldn't let me post it and then I left. It was so annoying. Thanks for the reviews and favorite stories, they are much appreciated and I look forward to them. And as always, Spirited Away is not mine. Enjoy.**

It was way too early to do anything civilized in the middle of summer and Rumi wouldn't be up for at least another hour so Chihiro decided to make a huge, complicated breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and home made smoothies. For one, she was starving, two, she needed time to think, and three, she needed to occupy her hands.

As she began mixing the ingredients, she began to think. How could she repay Haku for all he had done? Well, to tackle that question, she had to remember everything about him.

She began with the first time she had seen him. He had tried to save her from being stuck in the Spirit World but when he realized she was still there he brought her food to save her from disappearing and protected her from Yu-Bird. She smiled at the memory of Haku forcing the strange tablet into her mouth and commanding her to swallow and how his body forced against hers to protect her from Yu-Bird. She shook her head to stop herself from letting her mind wander.

Next she remembered crossing the bridge while holding her breath and holding on to Haku for dear life. She made a face at the memory of the horrified frogmen's faces when she took a breath and broke the spell he had cast on her. She made a mental note that if she ever had a chance to walk across that bridge again, she would not take a single breath. She remembered how his hand felt in hers and how his voice would always lift her head, even when she was so taken aback by his sudden coldness in Yubabas office after getting a job in the bathhouse.

"You saved me," she smiled to herself.

"Huh?" A sleepy voice interrupted her making her jump out of her skin and nearly burn her hand off on the griddle. "Wow, sorry Chihiro," Rumi yawned and took a seat at the kitchen table. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine." She stuttered. She hadn't noticed that she had the smoothies made, the bacon cooked and the pancakes ready. She was way too preoccupied with Haku. "Hungry?" she quickly put her memories aside and faked an enthusiastic smile.

"Bring it on!" Rumi smiled back at her.

On her third helping of pancakes, Rumi seemed to think of something. "Hey, weren't you up a bit early to make all this?" she gestured to the banquet with her fork spraying food everywhere.

Chihiro held in a laugh and shrugged. No need to tell her about last night.

Rumi looked at the food and seemed to be thinking very hard about something. "Huh," she finally said and dug back into her overflowing plate, much to Chihiro's relief. The last thing she needed was for Rumi to start asking questions.

"You want to go shopping?" Rumi asked enthusiastically after breakfast was finished.

Shopping, yuck. That was the last thing Chihiro wanted to do so she quickly made new plans. "You know, I'm actually going to go to the library for a while." That was a good excuse. She would like to see if they had anything on the Spirit World and today seemed to be the perfect opportunity.

Rumi looked at Chihiro like she had just spoken pig Latin.

"The _library?_ Are you _crazy_? It's _summer_!" she annunciated each word precisely.

"I know, relax, I just want to check something out," Chihiro tried to calm her, with little progress.

Rumi stared at her with narrowed eyes and touched her forehead. "Are you feeling alright? Do you need to see a doctor?" She looked genuinely worried. This made Chihiro laugh.

"I'm fine, really. I just want to look something up. Go have fun; I'll make it up to you. I promise, now go." she tried to persuade her to leave.

She wasn't convinced. "What could possibly be worth going to the library for in the middle of summer?"

Chihiro could tell she wasn't going to let this one go. "Tell you what," –she went to plan B- "if you let me go to the library and don't disturb me for the _whole day_, I will submit to a shopping day tomorrow complete with hair and makeup. Deal?" she knew that she was definitely going to regret this, but she had to find out everything she could about the Spirit World.

This made Rumi falter in her argument. "The _whole_ day?" she asked skeptically?"

Chihiro made an 'x' motion over her chest. "Cross my heart." She winked at her.

"Deal." They smiled at each other.

Finally, after much persuasion from Chihiro, Rumi left to go catch a movie. She decided that, since she would need to remember all the things she hoped to find at the library, she would need to start writing things down; questions and answers and little notes. She grabbed an old notebook and sat at the kitchen table. Now, the question was where to begin? There were so many things she wanted to know, so many questions she wanted answered and most of all, though she would never admit it, she really wanted a way to get back to the Spirit World.

This was definitely going to take some time. She sighed and started with the first thing that came to mind.

**_How do I get back into the Spirit World?_**

That was a good place to start.

**_Where is the tunnel?_**

That would definitely be a good thing to know.

**_Is the Kohaku River still filled with houses?_**

If it was, then that would mean it was very likely Haku was still in the Spirit World. That thought made her both excited and scared. Excited because she may have a chance to find him again and scared because he might not be the same.

**_Does he even remember me?_**

She let the thought overwhelm her for a moment. Terrifying images of him forgetting her, moving on, and leaving her behind filled her mind. She could see his beautiful green eyes, cold and accusing as his hands pushed her away. She shuddered at the thought and wrapped her arms around her chest, though it wasn't cold at all. As these images consumed her thoughts, a small light flickered in the back of her head like a candle in the dark. A vague memory sparked to life.

_She was crying, scared to death and he was there comforting her._

"_It's going to be okay," he whispered softly rubbing his hand up and down her back._

"_No it's not," her voice cracked and she jerked her head up to glare up at him through her tears. "Don't you understand?" She couldn't bring herself to say anything else. How could he say that it's going to be okay? Her parents are pigs, she is stuck in this crazy place working for a witch, and she's all alone. She tried to push away from him only to fall into his arms._

"_It's going to be okay, I promise." He said again, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on hers. "It's okay, you're not alone. I'm here," he whispered in her ear. She pulled her head up to look at him. It was almost as if he had heard her thoughts._

"_I promise," he smiled, whipping away her tears._

"Promise," she smiled at the memory. He was her friend and she knew deep down that he was never going to forget her no matter how long they were apart.

**These chapters are taking a bit longer than I planed. I know were this story is going, it's just getting it there in a way that I am happy with, so thanks for the patience.**

**p.s. When she is writing in her note book, I had a really awesome script for her hand writing, but it didn't make it threw.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I don't own Spirited Away. Thanks again for the reviews and favorite stories.**

_Oh my gosh, how it possible that they have nothing on the Spirit World in this whole library?_ She asked herself, dropping her head into her hands. She had been searching the library for the last four hours and she had come up blank. She had looked everywhere and in every subject she could think of.

"This is ridiculous," she muttered to herself. She grabbed the book she was looking threw and went to put it away. She was done researching. There was nothing to find. Maybe there was no such thing as the Spirit World and maybe Haku was just a figment of her imagination. That was probably true; he was way too perfect to be real.

"Maybe I am going crazy," she laughed without humor.

"Excuse me?" The young librarian looked at her with a worried expression.

"Oh, nothing,"-she blushed-"sorry." She hurried out the door, avoiding the stares of the people around her.

"Wow," she stopped dead in her tracks. It was dark outside. How long had she been inside? "Crazy," she muttered as she walked down the steps and onto the street. She wished she were wearing a watch. Before going home, she decided to catch a bite to eat.

_Hm, what do I want?_ She asked herself. Just then, the most magnificent smell drifted past her. _Whoa, what is that?_ She took a left following the smell, not really paying much attention to where she was going. She followed the smell threw a line of small, red Japanese restaurants and pawnshops, each one decorated with beautifully crafted lanterns and wind chimes. She vaguely remembered walking threw the streets just like this in the Spirit World. Then she saw it and it was too late.

She stopped dead in her tracks as she recognized where she was. She was standing on a narrow dirt road that led into a forest. Little shrines were built up at the base of a huge tree and a small statue was heavily covered in moss directly beside her. It was the same one that had scared her eight years ago when her father had taken a wrong turn, believing he was going to there new house.

"_No way!"_ she gasped. How did she end up here? She turned around and nearly screamed. The buildings and the road behind her had disappeared. All she saw was dark forest. The smell! She recognized it now. It was the same thing that had lured her parents into eating the Spirits food. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she realized what was happening. Someone or something was using magic to bring her here, weather for good or bad, she wasn't sure. She had only two choices. Either try to find her way back and risk getting lost in the forest, or go on and see why someone wants her there. _What if it's Haku?_ She asked herself doubtfully. No, it can't be him; he wouldn't scare her like this.

A rustling in the bushes ahead made her jump. She spun to see what it was but nothing was there. She squinted to try to see farther. She gasped. The silhouette of someone was quickly running away threw the forest.

"Waite!" she yelled and ran after it, completely forgetting common sense.

She ran into the forest, pushing aside anything in her path and trying not to trip, which was extremely difficult.

"Waite," she said again. She broke out of the trees to found herself alone in a clearing. It seemed the shadow had disappeared. "Come back," she whispered.

_CRACK!_ A branch snapped behind her making her whirl around.

"Haku?" she asked hopefully. There was no answer and she suddenly got the chills. She felt that she was in danger.

Something moved to her right and she suddenly realized that she had played right into the shadows trick and that it was not Haku. She slowly turned her head and saw that there was no way out and even if there were, the shadow would definitely catch her. _Oh no._

The bushes rustled again and a black ghost disguised as a man stepped out of the shadows. He was in a black robe with his hood up and his back was slightly curved. He looked almost crippled. Chihiro took a slow step backward.

"Don't be afraid," the ghost encouraged her with a deep whisper, taking a step toward her. "I won't hurt you." He looked into her eyes and she saw that his eyes were blazing like hot steel. "Come here," he whispered. It was like a command.

Chihiro took a slow step toward him. She couldn't stop herself; it was like he was controlling her body. Her mind screamed for her to stop, but she couldn't help the steps that followed. She could feel the magic he was using on her and all too soon, she was standing directly in front of him.

"Very good," the ghost whispered, stroking her cheek with his crippled, black, see threw hand.

_NO!_ She screamed inside. This was wrong. How could she have been so stupid? Haku!

The ghost gripped his smoky hand behind her neck and brought her forehead to his mouth. Chihiro could feel the very life being sucked out of her. Darkness was creeping in on her as her ears began to ring. She felt her body begin to fall limp in the ghosts' hand and she knew she was going to die. Haku. He was all she could think about. With what little strength she had left, she concentrated on his perfect face, his dark green eyes and matching hair, his voice whispering her name and lastly his smile.

"Haku," she whispered. _Goodbye_.

**I know it was a cliff hanger and I am sorry about that, but I couldn't resist. I'm in the process of writting the next chapter, so it will be up as soon as it's done, which hopefully will be either tonight or tomorrow, that's my goal. Hang in there. Thanks again.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I do not own Spirited Away. I know, this took forever, sorry about that. From now on, I'm not going to gauge when these will be posted.**

The ghost hissed against her forehead and let go, her body falling limp on the ground

The ghost hissed against her forehead and let her body fall limp on the ground. A voice was calling out her name. She felt a slight numb pain on the left side of her head, but she didn't care. She was focusing on the voice. It was furious but it sounded amazing.

She opened her eyes enough to see the sky above her and the top of the trees. She struggled to lift her head but it felt too heavy. Instead, she searched her surroundings with her eyes. There, in the corner, was the shadow of a man flying threw the air. He was out of her sight as quick as lightning. She blinked then saw the glistening of a blade ignite directly in front of her, lighting up the horrified face of the ghost and the silhouette of the man. Her eyes felt so heavy; she couldn't keep them open any longer.

"Chihiro," a voice whispered urgently. "Chihiro, can you hear me?" his voice cracked with tension. She wanted to tell the man that she was okay, she wanted to thank him, to ask who he is, but she couldn't make her lips form the words.

A groan was all she could manage. With her last strength, she opened her eyes just enough to see the blurry face of her rescuer.

"Chihiro," he chuckled slightly, his voice relieved as his strong arms wrapped themselves around her. Darkness closed in on her as she felt the ground disappear beneath her and she felt no more.

**A/N: This is were the previous chapter should have ended, but I didn't realize that until it was too late.**

The first thing she noticed when consciousness finally began to dawn on her was a throbbing pain on the left side of her head. It felt like she had been hit in the head with a steel chair. Next she realized she was laying on something soft like a mattress and that her head was propped up on something; she guessed a pillow. She mentally scanned the rest of her body, glad to find that nothing else hurt. Despite the throbbing in her head, she felt pretty good. She opened her eyes a sliver to see the tan ceiling of her own room, the sunlight from her window dancing across her room.

"How did I get here?" she muttered, glad to be able to speak. She tried to lift her head. "Ouch," she fell back onto the pillow with her hand on her head. She tried to recall what had happened last night. She remembered coming out of the library and smelling something delicious. She followed the scent past some restaurants and shops… they disappeared. She followed the shadow into the forest. The ghost had his mouth latched onto her forehead. Her name was being screamed, the lighting of a blade, a face. The face was blurry and it was calling her name, but she couldn't find who it was.

"Come on," she told herself, "remember."

"Chihiro?" Someone whispered. Her door opened a little and Rumis head peaked in. "Oh"-she gasped-"finally. Are you okay?" She looked worried as she came to sit on the side of Chihiros bed.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she smiled at her best friend. That was true, to a certain extent.

"You sure?" she asked timidly.

"Yeah. Why?" she wondered if Rumi knew something she didn't.

Rumi looked away and bit her lower lip in uncertainty.

"What?" Chihiro asked quietly. In her head, she was screaming. What is she hiding? What does she know?

Rumi glanced at her composed face and decided that she had nothing to hide.

"Well," she hesitated.

"Yes?" Chihiro encouraged, trying to disguise how much this meant to her.

"I came in to say goodnight and you weren't here," she hesitated again. The next words came out in a rush. "I came in a few hours later and you had this in your hand." She pointed to Chihiros hand, lying on the bed. A purple sash was tangled between her fingers. It was the same sash that Haku wore when she knew him in the Spirit World.

She slowly rubbed the sash between her fingers. She was prepared for a gust of emotion at the realization that Haku was indeed the one who saved her last night, but instead, she felt a sort of peace knowing that he is still a part of her life. Her face turned into a smile.

"Chihiro?" Rumi asked shyly. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she smiled at her, "I'm great. You hungry?"

"Yeah," Rumi smiled and helped Chihiro out of bed. She was a little wobbly, but after getting upright, she was fine.

"So where were you last night?" Rumi asked casually after breakfast was over.

"Um," Chihiro stalled. This was not a conversation she wanted to be having right now.

Rumi took Chihiros silence the wrong way.

"Oh my gosh!"-She gushed-"You have a secret boyfriend!" It was an accusation, not a question. "Why didn't you tell me?" she immediately dove in to questions, never giving Chihiro a chance to answer.

"No, that's not it," she tried to explain, but was cut off by Rumis constant questions.

"Well?" Rumi asked impatiently, finally done with her interrogation.

"No, that's not it. I was looking for some food and I got lost." That part was true.

"What?" Rumi was completely taken aback.

"Yeah, nothing special."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

"I don't believe you," Rumi looked sternly at her.

"Fine, don't," Chihiro smiled at her and walked outside onto the deck, Rumi right behind her mumbling something under her breath.

_I'm coming back_ she thought to herself as she eyed the river beneath her, _wait for me._

**Thanks for the reviews. I know this chapter was short and not the best, but hopefully, future chapters will be better. Thanks for the patience.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: As always, I don't own Spirited Away. **

_"It looks like he's bleeding from the inside." Kamaji said gravely. Chihiro and the dragon Haku had just fallen threw the roof into Kamaji's boiler room and he was bleeding extensively, both inside and out._

"_From the inside?" Chihiro gasped. Kamaji just nodded._

"_Waite a second," Chihiro exclaimed as she remembered something. She reached into her pocket and took out the precious dumpling the River Spirit had given her. She was saving it for her parents, but this was more important. "Haku, eat this," she bit it in half and tried to pry it down the dragons throat. He snapped at her hand with a growl._

"_Careful Chihiro," Kamaji warned._

_"Haku"-she grit her teeth and tried again-"please." She wasn't going to let him die. She thrust her hand into his mouth once more, rubbing against his razor sharp teeth and pushed the dumpling down his throat. He gasped and writhed against the wall in pain. "Haku!" she screamed._

"Oh Chihiro!" Rumi sang out, interrupting her memory.

"Huh?" Chihiro jerked and blinked a few times to clear her head. She was going to have to get used to Rumi interrupting her.

"Come on! You promised me a _full_ day of shopping!" Rumi laughed as if this was nothing new. Chihiro gasped and smacked her head. She had totally forgot about her promise. She had actually planned on finding her way back to the Spirit World today. _Shoot!_ She inwardly cursed herself and turned to face her friend with the most enthusiastic smile she could manage.

"Yeah!" she tried to sound excited but failed miserably. Thankfully, Rumi didn't notice. Chihiro was debating putting the shopping trip off a day, but after seeing Rumi's excited face, she couldn't let her down. _I guess the Spirit World will have to wait,_ she told herself with a sigh. After all, it wasn't going anywhere, was it? A sudden fear overwhelmed her for a moment, but she quickly pushed it aside and composed her face. "Okay, let's go," she said with a sigh.

"Yeah!" Rumi squealed with delight, grabbing her hand and dragging her out the door.

_Ugh_ Chihiro inwardly groaned. Rumi had picked out a whole new wardrobe of brightly colored garments for both of them that Chihiro was never going to wear and now they were sitting in the mall getting facials; Chihiro's earthly nightmare.

"And next were going to go shoe shopping and purse shopping…" Chihiro drowned out Rumi's pointless chatter with a sigh. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes as the stewardess began applying eyeliner. _This is ridiculous,_ she thought to herself_ but then again,_ -she added with a smile-_I knew I was going to regret this._ She decided the best way to pass the time was to immerse herself in daydreaming about Haku and The Spirit World.

_"Chihiro! Chihiro!" a beautiful voice was urgently calling her name. She quietly giggled from behind a huge tree covered in grass. Haku and her were playing hide and seek and he had no chance of finding her. She held her breath as she heard his feet walk behind her._

"_Chihiro," his voice was getting annoyed now. "This isn't funny anymore, I've looked everywhere for you." She peeked through the grass, holding in a giggle. He was turned away from her with his arms crossed._

"_BOO!" She jumped from behind her hiding spot with her hands in the air._

"_Ah!" He whirled around and screamed with a smile on his face, clearly teasing her. He grabbed both her wrists and pulled her into a hug, smothering his face in her brown hair. "Found you," he murmured._

"_Actually,"-she interlocked her fingers around his neck-"I found you." She smiled up at him._

"_Whatever," he kissed her forehead and ruffled her hair._

"_Oh no you don't." She tightened her grip around him when he tried to pull away. "I'm not letting you go that easily." He laughed and wrapped his arms around her again, resting his head on hers._

_"That's fine with me," he whispered._

"Hey Chihiro!" Rumi interrupted her daydreams.

_Ugh it was just getting good_ she groaned to herself as she opened her eyes doing her best not to glare at her best friend.

"Come on! We have more shopping to do!" Rumi pouted when Chihiro didn't get up immediately.

"Are you serious?"-Chihiro gasped- "We've been here all day. Don't you ever get tired?"

"Oh, please? Just one more store? Please, please, please!" She pleaded.

"Fine, one. But that's it!" Chihiro held up one finger to get her point across.

"Thank you!" Rumi jumped in excitement. _Great_ Chihiro sighed as she reluctantly got out of the chair and followed Rumi out the door.

**Sorry this is taking so long, but thanks for the patience and reviews. They are really helpful.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I do not own Spirited Away.**

"Could you have possibly bought anything else

"Could you have possibly bought _anything else?"_ Chihiro struggled to get the countless bags she was carrying threw the door.

"Oh come on, it's not _that_ much," Rumi enunciated her words, placing her bags on the kitchen table and began rummaging threw it all.

"Ha, yeah right. Look at this," she pulled out a knee length, spaghetti strap, deep blue nightgown and held it up to her body. "When are you _ever_ going to wear this?"

"Oh, I'm not." Rumi glanced at her with a smile.

"Then, _why did you buy it?"_ Chihiro was burnt out with Rumis shopping expertise.

"Because," she pulled out a light green, silk turtleneck to admire it, "_you're_ going to wear that."

"Say what?" Chihiro dropped the gown onto the table with her mouth wide open.

"You heard me," Rumi continued to admire the shirt.

"When and why would I _ever _wear this?" she motioned to the gown on the table with her hand.

"Oh, you'll wear that."

"Oh yeah? For what?" Chihiro crossed her arms.

"For your _secret boyfriend." _Rumi turned to smirk at her.

"Oh please, your not still on about _that._" Chihiro gaped.

Rumi stuck out her tongue at Chihiro. "I told you I didn't believe you."

"Ugh, your unbelievable. I'm going to bed," Chihiro waved her off as she walked to her room.

"Don't go sneaking out tonight little mistress!" Rumi called behind her with a laugh. Chihiro growled and slammed the door a little harder than needed.

"Your ridiculous," she muttered with a sigh. Now what? No doubt Rumi would be on guard all night to catch her if she snuck out, so going back to the Spirit World was out. She sighed again and decided to take a nice, long shower to unwind. She grabbed a pair of sweats and a tank top, took one wishing glance out her window, and went to take a shower.

The hot water felt good. She relaxed with a sigh and let the water dance across her body. All too soon, she could feel the heat beginning to die down. "Ugh," she scoffed as she reluctantly shut off the water and stepped out onto the cold tile floor of her bathroom. She wrapped a towel around her soaking body and began brushing her long brown hair. Just as she finished, she heard a scrapping on her door.

"Rumi," she whispered, rolling her eyes. She opened the door, but her room was empty. She started to close the door, but something soft brushed against her leg. Instinctively, she glanced down and saw the dark blue nightgown Rumi had bought hanging off the doorknob. She rolled her eyes again, took it off the doorknob and closed the door. She was prepared to toss it in a corner, but as she continued to examine it, she had to admit, it was pretty. She scanned her bathroom to make sure no one was hiding behind a wall, and quickly slipped it on. She quietly whistled. She reluctantly admitted that it looked really good on her, though she would never _ever_ tell Rumi. She twirled around once with a giggle and watched the gown wrap around her legs. Out of habit, she glanced at the clock on her counter.

"Oh my gosh!" It was almost two in the morning. She had been in there for almost three hours. She quickly shut off her light and ran into her bedroom, completely forgetting what she was wearing. _Waite a second_ she thought, stopping in the middle of her room. How can it be two? That's not possible. She ran her hand threw her still wet hair and glanced at the clock on her dresser. Yep, 1: 59 A.M. _Okay, either the time or me is freaking out. _She reached for her bedroom door to go check another clock when a silver light flashed by her window causing her to whirl around. She just caught a glimpse of the light flying past her window. She ran to the window and thrust it open. She gasped at what she saw. A light, gray, almost transparent bubble was surrounding her house. Immediately she recognized the use of magic. She scanned the sky for the silver object, but found a white pillar of light reaching out of the forest instead.

"Okay, this is really weird," she muttered, her voice shaking a bit as she backed away from the window.

"Chihiro!" A voice whispered. She spun around, nearly falling over from the speed of the turn. Her pulse was pounding inside her head but she listened intently for the voice.

"Chihiro!" It said again, weaker this time.

"Yes, I'm here." She whispered into the dark, wrapping her arms around her chest.

"Chihiro, help me," the voice pleaded. "Please, Chihiro!" The voice suddenly screamed in agony. At that moment, she knew he was calling to her.

"Haku! I'm coming!" she screamed, ignoring the fact that a sound like that would definitely wake up Rumi. She didn't wait for a reply. She grabbed a black hooded sweatshirt and some shoes before running out the door. She knew Haku was in trouble and she had to save him, no matter what it took. It was a race against time and she prayed that she wouldn't be too late.

**Thanks for the patience and reviews. This story is finally getting really intersting.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I don't own Spirited Away. Sorry it took so long, but here it is, finally. Hope you like it.**

She took off sprinting down the hall, whipping herself around the wall to make the sharp turn down the stairs. She flew, almost tripped, down the stairs, trying to get her sweatshirt on at the same time; her heart pounding in her ears and adrenaline pulsing threw her veins. She reached the end of the stairs and tried to grab onto the railing post, but narrowly slipped off, tumbling over the back of the couch and landing sprawled on the floor.

"Ah," she cringed in pain, grasping her head. Opening her eyes, she gasped and threw her hand over her mouth. _Shoot!_ She inwardly cursed. Rumi was wrapped up in a blanket exactly where she had narrowly missed the couch. She didn't breath. If Rumi woke up, it would be game over. A minute passed, the longest she had ever experienced, but still Rumi didn't wake up. _There is no way that she could sleep threw that_ she thought just as Rumi snored contently. "Okay then," she whispered, shaking her head. Slowly, she got up, slipped on her shoes and tiptoed away, though a cannon could have gone off and Rumi wouldn't have woken up.

The moment she was out the door she sprinted down the street, forgetting about everything but Haku. She flew out of the fog surrounding her house and ran down the deserted street. She glanced at the antique clock tower as she rounded the corner; still 1:59 A.M. That could mean only one thing. Magic. That realization just made the situation ten times harder and one hundred times more dangerous. She clenched her hands into fists and quickened her pace, her shadow dancing off the poles of the dim streetlamps. She past the library and followed the images in her head from the last time she found the Spirit World, she only prayed that nothing had changed.

When she found the dim lit street lined with restaurants, she let out a breath of relief but didn't slow her pace. She ran past the little shrines and soon found herself face to face with the strange, moss-covered statue guarding the entrance to the tunnel of the Spirit World. The thing still gave her the creeps, especially in the poor lighting of the night, but she flew past it into the dark tunnel, reaching her hands out to catch herself if she fell. Like last time, the wind blew past her but this time, there was something different. Instead of pulling her in, it was pushing her back like she wasn't supposed to be there. She ignored it and kept running threw the strange train station, the dim starlight dancing threw the windows.

A gust of air welcomed her when she reached the end of the station. She was expecting to find the grassy planes that were before her but instead she stepped into freezing water.

"Oh no!" she screamed. How could she have been so stupid? It was night; of course the field would be covered in water. That was the only way the Spirits came to the bathhouse. "Crap," she scanned the shoreline to look for a shallow crossing point, but there was none. She followed the water to the other side and gulped; it was a long way. She could see the lanterns glistening on the water and the houseboat docked where the Spirits had departed. "Come on you woos, this is no time to be chicken," she told herself. She glanced at the sky; there was a sliver of light in the horizon but besides that, pitch dark.

"Alright," she took a deep breath and a few steps back. She was really scared; she had never been the greatest swimmer in the world. The memory of Hakus tortured pleas filled her head and before she knew what she was doing, the water was curling itself around her body. It wasn't as cold as she was expecting, much to her relief. She pushed herself as hard as she could without drowning.

Finally, gasping, she reached the other side. She pulled herself onto the stairs and kept running, not stopping to catch her breath. Her wet clothes and shoes made it twice as hard, but she ignored her protesting muscles and kept going. She reached the beginning of the restaurants and had to slow down. No doubt her human smell would set off a ruckus if she wasn't careful. She scanned the street for a quick way threw and saw a dark ally on the far side of the street. That was her ticket to the bridge if she could get there without being noticed. She took a step into the light and froze just in time to see two dragon like spirits swooping past her. It took all her might not to cover her head and run. By some amazing luck, the two spirits remained oblivious to her being there. When they were out of sight, she let out a sigh of relief. That was way too close. Just when she thought she was safe, she heard someone sniffing around.

"Someone's here," a male voice whispered.

"What do you mean?" another voice answered him.

"A human," the first voice said. The second voice gasped and that was all she stuck around to hear. She sprinted to the dark ally and didn't stop until she had reached the other side. She hugged onto the wall when she reached the end. She could see the red lantern that marked the beginning of the bridge. She was expecting to see hundreds of spirits roaming from the restaurants to the bathhouse, but no one was there, it was empty. She took a hesitant step out of the shadows and looked around. _This is weird, where is everybody?_ She asked herself, her stomach twisting into knots. _Oh Haku, please be close_ she pleaded inside. All she wanted was to see his face, to watch her favorite smile grow on his face, just to hear is voice. She could almost hear it, Chihiro…

"Chihiro run!" This voice wasn't in her head this time and she immediately obeyed it. She pulled herself around the corner just when she heard voices whispering. She couldn't hear what they were talking about, but she caught the words human and lord. As the voices got louder, she caught a glance of a silhouette standing on the bridge out of the corner of her eye. She didn't have time to think. She ran toward the bridge and hugged herself behind the lantern. She could hear footsteps rounding the corner she had just been hiding behind. She held her breath and locked her eyes onto the figure on the bridge. It was just standing there, unmoving. It was like the figure didn't even realize she was there. The footsteps got closer then suddenly began to die down until she could no longer hear them. She took her eyes off the bridge and glanced around the lantern with relief.

Slightly pushing herself off the lantern post, she brought her eyes back to the figure. It was still there in exactly the same position. She took a few hesitant steps forward and couldn't help but glance around; it felt like she was being watched and she didn't like it. She took a few more steps forward and finally reached the bridge, squinting at the figure. Something was drawing her to it, her legs were moving on there own accord.

"Haku!" she gasped as she recognized the shadow. "Haku!" she said again, excitement overpowering her voice. She sprinted the last few yards. Just inches from him, the silhouette flashed revealing Haku, tightly bound and gagged, horror on his face, before it disappeared completely, leaving Chihiro screaming his name, finally collapsing onto her knees.

"Come and get him."

**Thanks for all your support and patience and sorry for the cliff hanger.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I do not own Spirited Away. Sorry it took so long. I couldn't decide how dangerous I wanted Haku to be, so it took a while for me to like the finished product.**

"Come and get him." She slowly pulled her head up toward the bathhouse where she thought she heard the voice, tears still streaming down her face.

"What?" she whispered, not expecting an answer, her voice gagged with sorrow. She couldn't believe what she had just seen. How was it possible that Haku, _her _Haku could be captured like that. She couldn't think; she couldn't feel anything but pain.

"Come and get him." The voice said again. The voice made her slowly spin her head around, back towards the lantern. She didn't have the strength to do anything else. From the corner of her eye, she saw the shape of a crippled man. As she let her eyes adjust threw the tears she saw that the man had extremely long, raggedy dark brown hair and a broken face. But what she really noticed was his foul smirk and his piercing blue eyes. "You don't remember me," his smile grew wider as he flattered himself. She couldn't think straight. It was like his eyes were controlling her. She stared into his eyes, not noticing that he was moving toward her. She watched herself chasing after something in the woods. It was just like a movie, she saw herself break into the clearing in the trees and spin around, hope on her face as her lips formed one word. Haku. Her eyes widened as she realized that what she was watching was threw the eyes of the ghost. But if she was watching threw the eyes of this man, that would mean…

"You!" she spun onto her feet, realization smacking her in the gut like a punch. This man was the ghost that had nearly killed her.

"Very good." The man had stopped mere feet from her. His face was so frail looking that the smile itself could have crumpled it.

"Where's Haku?" she demanded, her voice almost a growl. This surprised her. She knew very well that this man, this thing, whatever it was could kill her in a blink of an eye, but she felt no fear.

"Patience my sweet,"-he whispered with a laugh- "all in time."

She didn't like the way he said that. She crouched down, ready to fight. He was going to tell her where Haku was if it was the last thing she did. Quickly, her eyes scanned her surroundings for a weapon. Coming up blank, she went to plan B, fists. She flexed her hands and rolled them up. The man noticed and his face turned to anger.

"You think you can defeat me with your hands little human?"-He spat at her-"For what? Haku? Do you think he cares for you?" he laughed. He had hit the weak spot in her armor. Chihiro blushed, silent. A moment passed as the man's face slowly sparked with understanding. "You do," his voice had fallen to a whisper. Chihiro dropped her eyes to the ground. She didn't like the way he was talking, but she couldn't help but think, what if he is right? What if Haku doesn't care at all and this was all just a lie? "Oh this is perfect!" he wailed, laughing at the sky.

Moments passed as he laughed and Chihiro grew redder. He composed himself and in an instant was right in front of her. Before she knew it, his wrinkled hand was cupped around her chin, pulling her head up to face him, his face full of compassion. She hadn't realized she was crying. "Don't cry little one," he wiped her tears away with his long fingers. "Don't cry." She tried to obey, but failed, strangely comforted by his voice. "What has that boy done to you?" he comforted her in a fatherly tone. He gently wrapped his arms around her, caressing her head against his chest, which strangely caused more tears to come. "Shh," he soothed her, pulling her face up towards his. "Now stay very still." His eyes flashed blood red and his face was suddenly crazed. She tried to run, but couldn't move. The magic that had blinded her to the truth was now paralyzing her. The man's breath brushed against her forehead. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. This was wrong and she was powerless to stop it. All she could do was whimper one name.

"Haku."

Like lightning, the man was flying away from her leaving Chihiro grabbing onto the railing for support. She blinked and gasped. A beautiful, silver dragon had the man's head pinned between his claws, his face sheer hatred. 'Close your eyes,' an angry angels voice growled in her head. She quickly obeyed; cringing at what she guessed was the sound of bones snapping. She heard the dragon growl once and felt his muzzle gently probe her shoulder. 'Walk.' He said, more gently this time. She nodded her head, keeping her eyes closed and following the rail between her hands to keep her balance. She didn't want to see what he had done. She reached the end of the rail and stopped, not sure what to say. 'Keep going,' he urged. She took a few steps, but stumbled, grabbing onto his silky soft main. The voice chuckled in her head. 'Let me help.' He rubbed her hand with his face until she found his horns. She grabbed on and slowly began to walk again. Silence followed them. She was still entertaining the thoughts the crippled man had said about Haku and slightly shivered. The dragon noticed. 'What is it?' She shook her head and sped up, letting go of his horns. To occupy her thoughts elsewhere, she tried to walk around without tripping. That proved difficult.

"You can open your eyes, you know." A teasing voice said behind her. Without thinking, she obeyed.

"Whoa." She opened her eyes to find herself behind the bathhouse in the same place Haku had told her where to find Kamaji ten years ago. The only difference was that the bathhouse was dark and the door was overgrown with vines and plants.

"Aren't you even going to look at me?" The voice whispered behind her. She gasped, holding her breath. That voice wasn't in her head. Immediately, her mind was battling between what her heart was telling her and what the man said. "Chihiro please." He pleaded with her, pain filling his voice. She couldn't take it, no matter how he felt. If he really didn't care about her, he could push her away, but she was going to take the risk.

She spun on her heels, eyes searching for the source of the voice and there he was. Not in his dragon form, but in the form she best remembered, pain torturing his face, but still as perfect as ever. The rising sun caught his figure and glistened off his emerald green hair. He had grown it out to be slightly messy and he no longer wore the clothing Yubaba gave him, but he was still there, waiting for her to make a move. She watched as his face turned to agony when she didn't respond to him. He closed his green eyes and took a deep breath in, not letting it out. A single tear glistened down his cheek and at that moment, she knew that he truly did care for her.

"Don't cry," she whispered, taking a step toward him. His eyes flashed open at the sound of her voice, but he didn't say anything. "Haku," she whispered. "Haku!" she yelled, louder this time, running full force toward his speechless face, tears streaming down her face. She flung her arms around his neck and melted into his waiting arms, burying her face in his neck. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist before spinning her around in circles, laughing as he did. He put her back onto solid ground and buried his face into her hair, a huge smile on his lips.

"You came back," he whispered into her head, shocked. She just nodded and tightened her grip around his neck, she was too happy to speak. He sighed and let his head rest on hers, both completely content with the silence. They were together and that was all that mattered.

**I know that sounded like an ending, but it's not. I'm working on more. Tell me what you think. Thanks.**


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